The Anglo-Saxon noun unræd means "evil counsel", "bad plan", or "folly". Æthelred's notorious nickname, Old English Unræd, is commonly translated into present-day English as "The Unready" (less often, though less inaccurately, as "The Redeless"). Æthelred's first name, composed of the elements æðele, "noble", and ræd, "counsel, advice", is typical of the compound names of those who belonged to the royal House of Wessex, and it characteristically alliterates with the names of his ancestors, like Æthelwulf ("noble-wolf"), Ælfred ("elf-counsel"), Eadweard ("rich-protection"), and Eadgar ("rich-spear"). Æthelred was briefly succeeded by his son, Edmund Ironside, but he died after a few months and was replaced by Sweyn's son Cnut. Æthelred's 37-year combined reign was the longest of any Anglo-Saxon English king, and was only surpassed in the 13th century, by Henry III. After Sweyn died in 1014, Æthelred returned to the throne, but he died just two years later. In 1013, King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark invaded England, as a result of which Æthelred fled to Normandy in 1013 and was replaced by Sweyn. In 1002, Æthelred ordered what became known as the St. Following the Battle of Maldon in 991, Æthelred paid tribute, or Danegeld, to the Danish king. After several decades of relative peace, Danish raids on English territory began again in earnest in the 980s, becoming markedly more serious in the early 990s. The chief problem of Æthelred's reign was conflict with the Danes. He came to the throne at about the age of 12, following the assassination of his older half-brother, King Edward the Martyr. Æthelred was the son of King Edgar the Peaceful and Queen Ælfthryth. His epithet does not derive from the modern word " unready", but rather from the Old English unræd meaning "poorly advised" it is a pun on his name, which means "well advised". Æthelred II ( Old English: Æþelræd, pronounced, Old Norse: Aðalráðr c. 966 – 23 April 1016), known as Æthelred the Unready, was King of the English from 978 to 1013 and again from 1014 until his death in 1016. Godgifu, Countess of the Vexin and Boulogne.Edward the Confessor, King of the English.
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